I’ve written before on the contentious issue of corellas in York and Western Australia as a whole. Most people here regard them as vermin that should be eradicated and that means killing as many as possible with all guns blazing. Well on the morning of February 29th while walking along the River Avon with my dog I counted over twenty dead corellas floating in the river and found one badly injured bird – it had one of its wings blasted off – in considerable distress in the bushes along the river bank which I subsequently put out of its misery. There were shotgun casings and wads scattered along the footpath and in bushes.  On checking with the Shire of York offices I was informed that they had used contractors to perform a cull of the birds on the weekend of he 24-25 February 2024. The area in which it was done is a recreational park with public foot paths running through it that abuts to residential properties.

 

 

 

 

On searching online I found that the manner in which the operation was carried ignored guidelines as laid out by the RSPCA, Pest Smart, and the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions. Unfortunately these are only guidelines and not enforceable, but some of the practices are to do with public safety, environmental concerns and animal welfare and there is legislation for the breach of those.

Pest Smart state “Firearms are potentially hazardous. All people should stand well behind the shooter when an animal is being shot. The line of fire must be chosen to prevent accidents or injury from stray bullets or ricochets.” A considerable amount of the shooting had occurred on blind corners on the footpath where the shooter would have had no way of telling whether it was safe to shoot or not. Birdshot from a 12 bore shotgun as used here has a range of up to 50m making the its usage in public areas and at the rear of people’s properties quite a hazardous undertaking – checking with friends whose properties back on to the areas I found that none of them had been warned that the cull was taking place or to use their back gardens. 

 

 

 

 

The discarded cartridges and wads shows a disregard for littering what is a public recreation space. Also was lead or steel birdshot used? The use of lead shot has considerable environmental impact. In fact 29 countries have banned the use of lead shot for hunting birds because of its environmental impact. The plastic cartridge cases and wads don’t breakdown. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science have stated that shooters “using shotguns, plastic wads that contain the shot are discharged from the shell into the adjoining water. A wad is abandoned with every shot fired, and there is no practical way to recover spent wads which typically travel 30-50 yards.  Non-degradable plastic shotgun wads can present safety, nuisance, and environmental impacts in freshwater and estuarine waters.” The answer is to use casings and wading made out of vegetable biopolymers as detailed in this article in Guardian newspaper.

 

 

 

Pest Smart also advise that “Wounded birds must be located and killed as quickly and humanely as possible with either a second shot preferably directed to the head or in restrained or immobile birds, a blow to the rear of the skull to destroy the brain If left, wounded birds can suffer from the disabling effects of the injury, from sickness due to infection of the wound, from pain created by the wound or from thirst or starvation if unable to drink or eat. Wing fractures, which increase the likelihood of being taken by a predator, are common in wounded birds.” Finding wounded birds is inexcusable and members of the public should not have to euthanise birds when the pest controller has botched his job. As to the dead birds “Killed birds must be collected and disposed of in an appropriate manner in accordance with acceptable practices as required by local councils and applicable state or federal regulations”. The contractors clearly did not do this as evidenced by the trail of dead corellas floating in the river. The not picking up the carcases and allowing them to rot in the river is a health hazard and demonstrates a blatant disregard for the residents and who live next to the river and the visitors who walk the banks. Very soon they are going to smell very badly and attract vermin. It is pollution. 

 

 

 

There are/were a pair of black shouldered kites that are nesting a raising young in that area. From a distance in poor light they resemble corellas. Pest Smart say “Shooters should have sufficient knowledge and skill to identify the bird species causing the damage. If the identification of the bird is in doubt it must not be shot.” They also say “Shooting in poor light conditions makes it difficult to correctly identify birds and to search for wounded birds. Also, accurate marksmanship may be compromised.” The weekend on which the cull was carried was overcast and it was continuously raining reducing visibility. Since weekend neither bird has been sighted nor heard. These are a protected species and the council would be responsible if they or their agents has destroyed them. 

 

 

 

Unfortunately this is not the first time that shire employees and/or their contractors have embarked upon behaviour that places the fauna and flora of the River Avon at risk. In the last 6 years shire employees and/or their contractors have destroyed animal habitat. Turtle nesting areas have been bulldozed and rainbow bee eater nesting sites have been destroyed. The shire has an appalling disregard for the environment and the fauna and flora that lives within it. 

 

 

Having taken the issue up with shire in person I was told to contact them by email and to date they have not commented on any of the issues raised. This is very concerning considering that another cull is planed for March using untrained members of the public. The prospect of a bunch of gun toting  myopic rednecks rampaging up and down the river shooting anything that moves has made me reconsider using the area totally. I suppose it won’t be long before a tourist gets asked to “squeal like a corella”.

 

 

* apologies to William Shakespeare the proper quote is “Murder most foul” from Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5.